Page 38 of Dead Serious with Benefits
Like the fact that he was interested in me, not just because he knew my game and had let it go on, but because he’dclearlybeen enjoying it as well. I had also discovered that if he ended up fucking me, I wasn’t going to wonder if he was in yet or not.
“I was mistaken,” he said. “Earlier.”
“About?” I wondered, stepping back.
With a speed I wasn’t expecting, his hand shot out, neatly wrapping around my wrist and keeping me from pulling further away. “When I said your conversation skills were far better than your seduction skills.”
“When did you figure me out?” I asked, the strength of his grip not nearly as unnerving as the warmth of his hands. Despite the chill from the air conditioning, it felt as though he had been gripping his cup of tea for the past ten minutes.
He took a partial step forward, his face closer to mine as he dropped his voice to a low whisper. “Measurements alwaysstart with the waist, not the chest. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.”
“But you certainly did,” I said, licking my lips, afraid to move one way or the other.
“I did, and do. But I’m surprised you didn’t think of that; you’ve surely had fittings more than once. I wasn’t expecting you to miss a detail like that...interesting,” he said, his lips pulling up into a smirk before letting me go and taking a step back.
“Using my own word against me?” I asked with a laugh, the sound freeing me from the intensity gripping me and leaving me dizzy, but more in control. “That’s...evil.”
He chuckled, the sound rumbling out of his chest as he continued to watch me. It reminded me of a tiger at a zoo, a large predator contentedly lying in the sun, watching anyone who moved with a lazy, almost uncaring air. The enclosure’s glass made it a lie, though, because it was probably the only thing keeping the tiger in check. Without the glass, you weren’t an observer; you were prey. Would the tiger pounce or let you continue on your way, unmolested?
“What can I say?” he asked lightly. “It’s a good phrase. Perhaps I’m just now coming around to it.”
“For no precise reason, I’m sure,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “Credit where it’s due, however, plenty of people have tried to get the better of me and failed miserably. You are far more devious than I gave you credit for. Lesson learned.”
He grinned. “Perhaps next time, you’ll have more success.”
Next time. Not that I should have been surprised that he was willing to let there be a next time. He knew I was playing a game and had let it happen, and taken advantage of my arrogance in the process. There were any number of ways to take that advantage without engaging in the playful seduction I had originally been going for. And yet he had let me do what Iplanned, and enjoyed himself if the now diminishing outline in his pants was an indication.
So no, I wasn’t surprised, not by that anyway. I was surprised to find a flash of eagerness run through me. This mystery in the shape of a man had a stronger effect on me than I anticipated, if I was eager for the promised next time.
I was briefly spared having to think too hard about it when my door buzzer sounded. “Ah, that would be Miles.”
“Miles?” he wondered.
I grinned. “The man who actually knows what he’s doing, don’t move.”
“I wait with bated breath,” he said.
I didn’t let Miles into the penthouse so much as I opened the floodgates to a bright and endless stream of sunshine and chatter. He was as thin as he was short, but his personality filled any room from the moment he stepped into it. He had changed his hair to a bright red, just shy of being unnatural, but obviously came from a bottle as he swept into the penthouse.
“Ward, Ward, Ward,” he began as he spun on the spot, looking at everything. “Wehaveto talk about your choice of decor. Rich playboy is such a boring pastiche, you aren’t Bruce Wayne.”
“I lack the necessary training and mental scarring to dress up like a nocturnal mammal to terrorize the city’s criminal element,” I said with a chuckle.
“A little minimalism wouldn’t do you much harm, even just a touch.”
“Last I heard, you were a co-partner on a dress for Lady Gaga.”
“And?”
“And let’s not pretend that anything she would be interested in will be anything close to minimalist.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” he repeated, following close on my heels, making a soft noise of pleasure at something he saw as we walked. “But that’sfashion. What I make for people like the flawless, amazing, resplendent, untouchable Lady Gaga is for show, for the flash and glamour, and to strike feeling into the hearts of those who see a goddess in the flesh.”
“Goddess?” I wondered as we reached the closet, and I gestured for Miles to enter.
“Considering the style and presentation she tends to portray, a Fey Queen may be a more appropriate descriptor,” Arlo said quietly as Miles floated into the room.
Miles, who had already started evaluating Arlo’s outfit on sight, stopped and peered up at him with a light in his eyes that made me snort. “Oh! If I ever have the chance to speak to her again, I will be sure to pass that idea on. I must absolutely do some research; the idea has a whole host of possibilities, and I don’t want to miss a one. Just how familiar are you with fairies?”
